Player Created Assets
Sitemap Player Created Assets * See also Types_of_assets * See also Story_Telling * See also Modular_Game_Objects * See also Templates * See also Object * See Also Player_Creation_Contests * See Also Game Editing Tools SEE ALSO ' Player_Created_Asset_Collaboration_System ' --- --- --- --- --- A feature you see in very few MMORPGs and usually quite limited even for those. The idea for this one would be to use it on a 'massive' scale to allow large numbers of players to add content to the MMORPG in a major way One of the major limitation of doing that is the heavy vetting process needed to test and verify and validate those assets (which would include complex ones like quest/missions) before they are put into the games active servers and are accessible in the game. Another major limitation will be the massive number of competent tools which would be required fro the game company to provide to make the whole Asset Creation process work. --- PlayerCreated Assets Future of MMORPGS ? Here is something else that might be risky but potentially a significant advancement for this kind of game (MMORPG) -- Player Created resources/assets to add to the game. We've seen some minor aspects of this in games like LOTRO where players submitted textures for horses that were used in the game or longer ago in Neverwinter Nights, where player created clothing+prop objects/terrain-building-blocks which were then distributed en masse (via Patch), allowing (player) world builder's use in the player-controlled server games (theoretical 64 players per server). The Player base is a huge resource for imagination and skills (and time+effort) which could help a MMORPG in one of its main difficulties -- the need for a constant stream of new content to keep longterm players interested. --- I see the 'Player Created Asset' mechanism as the most revolutionary part of all this. It would allow 'the Company' to start the game off with alot less 'World' than most MMORPGs require (less $$$$ upfront, less time and minimizing costly installments/content additions $$$). The 'World' would grow with the Players, and it would give many Players a channel for their creativity which most MMORPGs almost totally lack. After the Creation Tools/Processes were developed, many more 'genre niche' games could likewise be offered (with much of the Tool and Server development (and even general game mechanics) already working/paid-for $$$$$$, and improvements on one would likely bring improvements on all the others). Some(many) of the Assets could cross over into additional games (ie- many human body animations for actions would have common use in most games, many common Objects/props/effects - ditto). I would support (within reason) in-game rewards for Players who create useful Assets (which are quality enough to be used to improve the game world) to encourage maximizing creation of good Content additions by Players. A point/score system would encourage some 'creators', and being given public 'credit' for creation would induce others. The challenge/achievement of creating something complex/interesting (to push the envelope and to see something you won't find in any of those other games various companies spent millions on developing) -- THAT would attract others. With heavy Player involvement in Asset Creation, part of the ongoing Company development work would be upgrades to the Server/Client programs to support new REQUESTED game mechanics (or variations/improvements thereof). Many of the interesting ideas I posted do NOT have to be part of the initial game, and many could be added over time. Example - the ability for TVs in-game to show video feeds (beyond the old style frame card sequences used in BioShock) which would allow more complex 'video' Assets to be played by any TV object (IN the game). Players then could create such TV Show/Clip Assets and THESE could be viewable also on the Tablet/Smartphone interfaces... I think people would be amused to (offline) watch Rapture advisements and bulletin updates of events going on in-game in Rapture (relevant to their Game World), along with the various other Player created entertainments (in that late 40's style). --- A major stumbling block may be trying to get such a game feature system (or all the proposed ones) to work on MULTIPLE PLATFORMS. Much of the "Player Created Assets" tool use require a PC because of the numerous associated complex tools. Some of the console platforms may not meet the game's target CPU processing requirements (think of it being a few years ahead for this project to get working) - even with the target hardware being in the mid-range capabilities MMORPGs usually target. Disk capacity on clients could be a problem, etc... The Player 'talking' via typing text (talk bubbles over player heads - no keyboard or a poor one) or mic+headset might not work on some console-esque systems. Ditto for Voice Recognition command interfaces. One would hope the game improvements are versatile enough even if many features are 'dumbed down' for certain platforms and can still give a superior (to what we have today) game experience. --- I would expect a Monthly subscription pay system for Players in this game. There is too much development investment tied up in such an advanced game to allow 'Free to Play' schemes, and it works against any free collaboration models to restrict distribution of player created content to some "Nickel-and-Diming" 'extra DLC payment'. ( Who would contribute if all it does is make the company richer and many Players would never buy any of the additional content ?? ). I've found games with 'The Store' being constantly annoying and distracting with in-game advertisements, notices, reminders, 'sales' gimmicks. Also, there is the major waste of development/maintenance effort on 'store' interfaces/mechanisms -- in place of making a significantly better game. Include the many inept web-based account and money related interfaces/bother/bugs, along with the overall mercenary ($$$) 'Nickel-and-Diming' of Players for things they promised would NOT EVER be sold (including various 'Pay to Win' unfairness). --- The Main Difficulties Are 1) Legalities of ownership of things that players create and submit to the company 2) Proper Tools being provided to players to allow them to create Assets compatible for the game engine. Often such tools (easy/simple to use ones...) can be as big a project as the game itself to produce. 3) A vetting procedure for the Assets which eliminates invalid/dysfunctional/improper/duplicate/inadequate/unbalanced items without consuming excessive company resources ($$$). Some aspects of Asset validation can be automated. 4) Friendly mechanism to constantly send (publish) new Assets to all players (we have alot of bandwidth these days so transparent background transmission should be doable - it just hasn't been really done yet). Otherwise a (preferably quick) Login-time Patch of client content has to be done. --- --- --- ASSETS Are More Than Just The In-Game Objects ''' '''Such Asset Items Could Be: * Clothing/body variations (these usually don't effect game mechanics, so are easy to vet/test) * Terrain modules/building blocks (requires 3D type editing, but templating can greatly speed up creation) * Props (freestanding 3D objects that can be placed within the terrain and manipulated - including vehicles) * Sound effects (new or modifications/variations) - maybe voice 'recordings' or basic NPC dialog snippets. Music of various sorts (copyright vetting ,,,,) Text speaking... * Textures for signs/wall/floor/liquid surfaces * Particle/lighting effects (water/fire/sparks/flocking/vapors/insects) * Behavior scripting of props/NPCs/baddies/effects (this is largely in the expert realm for the core 'scripts' but adjustable parameterization/templates can be used to allow tuning/cloning) * Mini_Games (game scripting code+2D assets -- Apps creation tools already exist to do this) * Assemblies/installations of game scenes - combinations/clusters of props/terrain placed in relation to each other. This may be some small cluster of props or extend all the way to entire unique modules of cityscape (think of a rival to Kashmirs... or a football stadium) * 3D character animations - new or variations of existing movements of figures (Avatars/NPCs/baddies/props) * Game mechanics (usually very difficult but can be a matter of parameter changes instead of logic and possibly recombinations of existing modular logic : ie- new machine (prop) that effects the local environment and 'connected' objects in already defined ways -- via standard attributes) * Auto-generation patterns for the Self-extending parts of Rapture (world map) that can grow with additional players (or at least grow the city huge without alot of very tedious and expensive development hands-on ($$$) customization -- which the company wont be willing to pay for). --- One aspect which is often missed : is that some Assets mentioned above have more than one component, which more than one person is better/skilled at creating/modifying, and Collaboration between Players SHOULD be done to facilitate good/complete Asset creation. Thus a publishing/review mechanism would be needed to allow unfinished/polished assets to be submitted/reviewed/critiqued/pre-vetting/tested/modified/resubmitted/voted on -- with any component being potentially added to/modified/refined by players having more skill. Many of the Assets would be 'parameterized' so that people without programming/scripting skill would be able to modify/adjust/tune them for aesthetics/balance/polish. Retouching graphics textures is something that just about anyone can do who has Photoshop or even Gimp. Even NPC behaviors are largely controlled via flags/coefficients that tune their responses and certainly NPC dialog scripting is mostly creating appropriate text response tree-patterns. A good part of the vetting process would be carried out by Players (Scripting especially is one that can require specialized expertise to make sure it does what its supposed to, but also does not have something hidden in it that is harmful or improper). Sandbox Testing Worlds that allow viewing/manipulating/testing candidate objects INSIDE the game mechanism would need to be be provided (the tools would also pre-test alot OUT-OF-GAME). Efforts by players in these activities could possibly be rewarded IN-GAME -- at minimum with recorded attribution of their effort for the new creations/improvements. Some players have more fun doing the above chores/activities than actually playing the game and creative roles like this can greatly increase the player MTBQ (Mean Time Before Quitting). Too many MMORPG games I've seen have multitudes of Players STARVING for something NEW to do in the game, and this kind of continuous additions (Far beyond what game companies budget for in-house) would also keep many people playing (AND PAYING) much longer. --- Again, this is something not yet seen in any major game company's MMORPG products (there is risks the investors usually flee from), but it may in future turn out to be the way these games get done. It would take a company who really wants to be "Cutting Edge" to carry it out. BioShock Online 'The Rise of Rapture' would already have the seed Assets to make a good initial chunk of the Game World (playable while Players create/submit and have assets adopted) and thus a head start as compared to an entirely new genre. --- --- --- --- --- Another 'Player Created Asset type: 7c) Unique (fitted/appropriate) NPC Character Development. -- Specifics of what roles the fulfill (example- hotdog stand guy) : * By what they say in their interaction dialogues (implied accents and slang/terminology). * It might have a Speech lead in (sound clip) or sales barking/drumming snippets ("Get Your Hotdogs Here !!"). * Customization includes how they interact with Players/NPCs (grumpy/friendly New York City rude). * What props they interact with (like that hotdog-stand + cash-register and the hotdogs he sells and that frightening condiment selection) * How they interact socially and commercially (who he buys stuff/supplies from, and where his money goes -- does he go somewhere to sleep???) How they react when a wild Splicer is on the loose near them.... ( "!! Damn Splicer Ain't Gonna Steal MY Hotdogs!!!!" ) It doesn't have to get too intricate and many of the behaviors are standard attributes selected from a menu (ie- when threatened - run away; if someone wants to buy and you have that thing to sell - sell it for money; vacate the stand for 8 hours a day and put up the "Closed" sign and empty the cash-register). Notice that this 'logic' of a NPC vendor is largely common to most such small sales locations/vendors. Reusing it on some other kind of store does not require that many changes, mostly just specific details, different props around the NPC, etc... Maybe variant #17 will put up a sign on the walls nearby leading to his business spot with its unique name and pointing the way (just another part of this specific 'Assembly' made out of commonly reused building blocks). The Sign-Put-Up behavior is just another 'building block' used when the 'business' instance is to be installed (added to the Game World), and appropriate signs are placed in walls spots designated for sign placement. Random 'Generic' signs can be used but the creator can make nice looking ones as part of his customized 'Assembly'. This Instance "Joe's Hotdog Stand", designed by a player (or maybe by company Asset Creators) will go in one location slot in the Game World --- as a freestanding vendor stand in some semi-random clear spot in some street in the civilized part of New Rapture). Some significantly modified variant of it might be decided to be placed in several other city locations ("Ludwig's Bratwurst Kiosk") with sufficient differences to not be noticeably repetitive (ie- a leanto). The system allows it to be easy enough to clone and customize (and Asset Creator Players can expend lots of fun time making it special/specific and themed and logical). There may be some special control logic options as to what is sold (especially when no hotdogs are yet available or are out of supply for a while -- all basic menu type fallthru logic - Hmm, hotdogs made out of 'fish' or barnacles...). The specific NPC running this 'assembly' and the necessary props' all are coordinated together (why its called an 'assembly' - its all cohesively constructed) and make a whole grouping that can be placed in any compatible spot (an 'Instance') . This unique item can be cloned and placed in all the parallel running Game Worlds. This particular hotdog stand does not have to become some Epic Super Plot item, as it fullfils basic 'people needs' but it DOES fill in a little detail in that place of that World (different from most MMORPGs you see which are virtually ghost towns). The combinations of several equally simple 'Assemblies' of simple Props nearby together will make that location unique enough without some expensive choreographing/hand building that we see in solo games (and which cost so much for the game companies to produce). There is a term 'emergent behavior' which is used in the technical world of simulation, where many simple objects interacting in simple ways, bring about the appearance/execution of much more complexity. This scheme is alot like that. Objects with a tiny bit of adaption to their environment make this even more effective. An interesting thing about a hotdog 'stand' is that it is generally portable and generic in where it can properly be placed (utilized in the Game World). There could be a Player Boss command system for this type of 'Business' Asset by which the Player in the game tells his NPC 'employee' to move the stand closer to where the Player's resources are (to improve convenience for his NPC lackeys - as a nearby place to eat)... For independent NPCs, logic might have the NPC move his stand to a better location or even sell it to a player(the NPC might become one of his minions....). Another might be after the stand is a success, to build/setup another (expand his business) inside the game --- Joe's Hotdog Stand #2 -- and attract/hire/partner a second NPC to man it. Alot of the world detail fillers (vendors at least) probably wont be much more complicated than the above example. Using 'Templates' provided (by the company or expert player creators) with the scripted AI guts already done makes it faitly easy to do. Most creators (who are creating a custom instance of the template) only fill in standard options and select details to make things unique. There would be lots of preexisting little options to chose from (signs, names, decoration textures, etc..)-- and more simple Assets can be custom created by the Player or a collaborator (like a custom sign using the sign-making tool). --- Reuse - Maximizing Player Creations : Such new 'assemblies' become building blocks which can be customized by other players and reapplied/modified to other locations (some fall into generic categories that can be used by the Auto-Generation of the vast city). Some would be very large and very specific/unique (example- a rival restaurant to the upscale Kashmir's) which would be designed as a key city ('landmark') feature and should not be duplicated again on that Server World map. That, versus a small food shop pattern which with minor attribute changes could be a Pizza-stand/BBQ/Hotdog stand/Coffee shop/small bar/etc. Generic 'template' businesses that could be frequently reused and customized according to some players preferences (and imagination) and plopped down (semi-randomly??) in appropriate locations (using the Auto-Generators placement rules). As players create/customize more of these little locations, more of those 'locked/blocked doors' we saw in Rapture would no longer locked/blocked and NOW have something behind them NOTE - when that Key city 'landmark' feature is added to the map, it would be added to ALL World Servers, the benefits created by one or more Asset Creating players is thus multiplied. Of course such key features have specific fitting requirements into the 'World' (you wouldn't find Kashmirs in Paupers Drop...) and thus placement would be coordinated thru the company Game Masters to reserve an appropriate location (which may vary between Server World). Redundant competing (similar) creations would have to be handled but the city IS huge and it is just a matter of matching another site (until some design limit for "5 Star" restaurants in Rapture is reached). NOTE-2 - this new key location 'feature' location/building is supposed to START in a wrecked state that will be reclaimed by the players actions. It is upto the players in each Server World whether they ever want to go there or take on the Tasks to rebuild/repair that place (and spend their money/resources). ALL building 'assemblies' are designed (in the creation tools) with a base 'proper'/clean state and then is mutated to start 'dirtied up' --- with layers of wreckage(bodies?), resident 'wild' Splicers or squatters, vermin, burst pipes, damaged/stolen machinery, destroyed infrastructure, garbage, flooding -- which the players (if they choose) will work to restore it to that base (clean) state. Maintenance then needs to be done or entropy will slowly deteriorate it again. Maybe some player will decide HE wants to run that restaurant (or do something else nefarious with it) and will convince/induce/coerce other players into helping him rebuild it (or just do it using his own resources.) World Expansion is continuous : When an 'instance' of one of these assemblies is finalized and placed in the Game World, it becomes a source of interactions/services for the players and their NPCs. Ex-splicers still have to eat and a convenient (restored) hot dog stand with a Server controlled NPC (or players) occupying it. It becomes a source of supply (food) and of revenue and details that make the player think he is in a real city (yes, civilized inhabitants will actually use all the city facilities -- and will probably complain if you don't have the restrooms fixed). The NPC behavior would be programmed with more detail than your ordinary MMORPG to achieve this (and players will continuously add more with improvements). The 'Hotdog Stand' might have a Newspaper Rack (New Rapture Tribune ??) included, and now can be a source for that kind of interaction for the player (buying a daily newspaper). A player can look at the news/want-ads which come from some Newspaper Company (run by some other player/NPC as a simple business -- using Server generated news feeds -- the newspaper 'owner' doesn't have to do all the tedious/endless grunt work). " ***FLASH*** Atlantic Express connection to Agamemnon Towers Restored !!!! --- --- --- Three Tiers For The Programmers for Whom Logic is King : I've been considering a similar issue for a MMORPG game where the Players eventually create the bulk of the game assets (complex AND simple) - its "Creating" outside of the 'Playing' (though 'customizing' some objects by selecting/adjusting Options and control parameters could happen in-game as part of the Fabrication part of the game). Anyway, I came up with 3 Tiers of activity for the 'Programmers' : 1) High Level - which is mostly taking Templated Objects which are previously defined, which then have options to select from (wizard type interface method ...), and detail control Attributes to adjust available options/fixed attributes/parameters/coefficients. Most Players would be able to do this 'programming '. They just need good Tools to exist to make it 'easy' (those Tools actually being a BIG project in itself to make). The in-game customization of objects also uses a minimized version of this system. The 'Templates' would (pre)include logic to auto-validate 'easy' selection settings done within the High Level Editing Interface. Vetting is usual largely checking for inappropriate material (obscenities/copyrights/cheats) being included. A example I usually give is : A chair Object with allowed physical behavior under the games Simulation Mechanics, but various attributes which can be changed :size/shape/color/textures/mechanical adjustments/materials ... A more complex Object is : a 'form letter' type 'Mission', with minimal detailed logic 'PARAMETERS' required to be specified (all done basically using selections from prexisting options and some simple parameterization of selected options). - 2) Mid Level - scripting which defines the logic for behaviors (using an extensive library of building blocks), and templated object types to fill in a bulk of the details/forms (hierarchical templates with inherited defaults/stubs). Templates for the High Level 'creations' are defined at this level. Many fewer Players have the skills needed to do this programming properly (BUT those who do create 'tweakable' things used by many other Players). The scripted logic fits into predefined attachments within the possible behavior of Objects (with lots of defaulting to 'typical' behavior preset). These would make up a large selection of 'Templates' predefined for various Object types, and then further specific ones for flavors within the types -- why reinvent the whole wheel when you are modifying only part ? Some validation of this programming can be automatic, but proper review before script distribution/availability is needed. Templates for 'Completeness Checking' would assist the Tools using this scripting - to enable as much automatic testing as possible, so as to NOT waste human time/effort). The Script chunks created are most likely compiled (machine code) for efficient execution. - 3) Low level - actual programming (native code) which implements game mechanics and defines Templates at a low level (which are employed by the Tiers above). Very specialized and specific design knowledge is required of the programmer (probably only handfuls of Players are capable of any major modifications - most work likely originally done by the company staff, and then extensions added to the basic game engine as the need is discovered). Major design/testing review is required before publishing to the game (first to test servers for EXTENSIVE testing). Incremental improvements are allowed for/facilitated (the whole design is modular from top to bottom so a modification need change only one independent part of the full game component). This Tier includes programming of the 'programming' Tools (and external program additions which operate on the well-defined data structures), and the library building blocks used by everything else (Tier 2 and thus indirectly to Tier 1 usage). - Implementing all of these 3 Tiers would require a sophisticated 'Creation' Community which facilitates 'easy' Collaboration of additions to the complex workings of the game (tasks of proposing/commenting/help/coordinating ). A vetting process for the mid and low level 'programming' would need to be an integral feature. Simulators to allow 'running the Object thru its paces' would be available for Pretesting and final evaluation. A publishing model to facilitate frequent updates of ALL the 'Assets' (and quick backing out of late discovered problematic additions -- which somehow got past the test/vetting processes). As you might expect, the production of ALL the mentioned Tools becomes as BIG a project as the game mechanics. A level between Tier 2 and 3 probably exists for 'plugins' for the Player's Game Client programming, which might be manipulating/facilitating alot of standard information display and input (all Server validated of course to disallow cheating). This is to allow fairly heavyweight custom programming for Player and slave (Team) NPC AI (which runs on the Players Client machine). --- --- --- All you(sic) Assets belongs to Us ' : The EULA (End User License Agreement) states that any Assets created within the Game's Tools belongs to the game company. Ideas might be taken elsewhere AS IDEAs, just not any created game Data composed using the game/company's tools. Later, possibly, (if and when the game companies can ''get their heads out) there will be shared, even Open Source, tools to do things like what I've described. (Standards for data formats is often the stumbling block. Ex- for over a decade the 3D graphics industry has resisted any significant standards for graphics/animation data formats). The Computer Publishing Revolution can serve as a model of what systemic secondary uses could be found for these kinds of tools. --- --- --- '''Keeping the Weirdness Under Control : Splicers can't get too alien looking - the BioShock games didn't stray to far from anthropomorphic forms (avoided tentacles and such) to keep the animations manageable. It also allowed them to share common bone animation patterns for the many maneuvers/movements. But if any Player wants to go to all the work needed (a large very different animation set and changes to the behavior code), no doubt some use could be found for their creations even if only in Nightmare sequences (and Splicer delusions). --- --- --- Example of Creating a 'Test-Rig' For Asset Testing : A 'Test' is defined to exercise a particular interaction/reaction/behavior of a Object (NPC/prop/weapon/whatever) in the game and may be broken up into 'sub-tests' that will exercise a variation of the aspect being tested. The Tools that allow a Player to create 'staged' choreographed 'plays' for the game (Like those Ghost incidents in BS1) can create 'Scripts' to make 'actors' (NPC or player Avatar) interact with terrain/props/each other in an exact fashion, thus exercise functionality and behavioral logic. Scripts can activate standard actions which all Objects of their type perform. (ex- activate a 'greeting' to another NPC or for a 'machine' to have its player activation button presses or for an NPC to 'runaway' from an enemy). Testing using a 'scripted' setup (Test-rig script) takes alot of tediousness out of recreating the desired test -- you write the Script once and run it over and over with little extra effort. You can clone it and make small changes to test slightly different things with very little effort. For the Test, a simple situation in a 'Sandbox' arena would be created with all the necessary Objects placed (via Script). Part of the 'staging' tools that create these 'Play' scripts will be editors similar to game level creation tools which already exist in the game industry. The 'scenes' being created will be small and simple and made with a USER-FRINDLY interface - with 'pulldown lists' to select options/Objects, and a 3D view of the 'scene' with drag-n-drop used as you edit. The tool will record the identities of the Objects the player sets-up on his 'stage' and creates a 'Script' of directives that can reproduce the exact situation the player created. Those Scripts can then be replayed in the same tool to recreate the staged scene. The 'staging' tool integrates with a simulator that runs the Object's behaviors, so that the player can hit a 'execute' button and the Objects in the 'play' will act as if in the real game (and react to each other accordingly). The player then watches to verify the behavior they are testing. Due to the complexities of the 'simulation' the tool will actually tie-in to a Test Server which will perform the actual execution. If the Asset is an 'auto-generated' asset, then the autogeneration would be run thru the Test Server to create it, but with Parameters specified for the current Test's circumstances (all variations of 'parameters' have a seperate set of Tests that should exist for the Asset Type in question). If the autogeneration Asset is designed for random variations, the Script might be run over and over to see if valid Objects are consistantly produced. All variations are described in the Assets design documentation. The Objects created to interact in the Test would be set into a correct state required by the "Test's" circumstances (example- a Splicer would have its hitpoints set to near death to cause it to do a 'retreat' type of behavior and an enemy would be placed near it that it would likely try to run away from or use some other tactic). Once the 'stage' is set, the Tester may take the role of a player Avatar to MANUALLY test varying actions -- to easily try variations against the tested Object (variations in actions, timing, position, sequence) and do it over and over to look for correct consistent behavior ( many time the reactions may be randomized or behavior tactics with multiple options). Complicated NPC behaviors require this manual testing (semi-automatic if you count that the situation was setup by a Script). Debug tools allow looking into the internal state of Objects so the tester (Author at least) can make sure that those attributes are what they are expected to be (and watch them change as the 'Test' situation unfolds). The tools allow tracing progress thru execution of the Objects logic so the Tester can see the expected calculations are being run. Scripts can invoke other scripts, so a common 'stage' setting could be written (Scripted) once and then used repeatedly in many other Tests. The Author of the Asset should create a number of these 'Tests' as part of their proving that their Asset behaves correctly (Authors are supposed to test their creation). The scripts they would produce are then attached to the Asset Project for retesting later. Common testing 'scenes' would be pre-provided as examples by the Community. Many people may have trouble using the Tools to write these 'Test Scripts', but with good Examples and Tutorials and being able to easily modify them (to do whats needed), many more players can make use of this methodology. FAQs will exist with lots of advice about how proper testing should be done and the IDE will have checkists for the 'Tests' and 'Examples' normally expected to be provided for submissions. If all else fails, there are Experts in the Community who can assist (via collaboration) to write proper Tests (at least the minimum automatic Tests). Unfortunately if too many people 'beg off' and don't create their own tests then the 'Experts' will be swamped, so its important that the testing and Test-rig script creation is as easy as possible. One important side-effect of the Authors knowing how to use these scripting tools is that the very same methods are used to create the 'Plays' (forced acting) embedded in Dialog Trees and Quests and the 'staging' used for Quests and for Auto-Generation of terrain. --- --- --- Creation of Tests Itself Is a Collaboration. Many Objects are similar to other existing Object-Types, and can use THOSE Object's Tests for the 'new' Object. (example- a 'Chair' has a bunch of expected in-game reactions/behaviors and anything classified as a 'chair' should Pass these 'Chair' (Type Template) Tests. If the new 'Chair' being created has something different about it (maybe it is a 'Recliner') then that additional functionality would have to be separately tested -- IN Addition to the standard 'Chair' tests . It would be likely that a new Taxonomy' (classification) would be created for this new 'Recliner Chair', listed underneath the more generic 'Chair' classification. The Author would be expected to define some Tests to demonstrate the new abilities/use of this 'Recliner Chair' and THOSE Tests (after some later review) would become 'standard' tests for subsequent 'Recliner Chairs' (and be used by the next person who wanted to create one of those). --- --- --- --- --- . .